The Taming of Carbuncle
by lightofeilia
Summary: Squall and Selphie go on a weird mission, and discover something new. A series of ficlets revolving around Squall, Selphie, and sometimes Carbuncle.
1. Chapter 1

"You know, I still can't help but feel this is weird..."

"..."

"I mean. It's a nice day out, and we've found the perfect place and we have these delicious hotdogs from the cafe..."

"We should save some for Zell..."

"We should. But we won't," Selphie grinned cheekily back at him, taking a humongous bite out of her hotdog.

"But back to my point," she continued, chewing thoughtfully.

"Monologue," Squall interjected dryly. Finishing off the last of his hotdog, he dusted his hands and laid down, staring at the clouds crossing over the sky.

"And we're supposed to be, what, on the lookout for something?"

Squall nodded, before realising that with Selphie's back facing him, she couldn't actually see him.

"Yes," Squall then replied, slightly annoyed with the current topic of pointless conversation. "So?"

He watched her grab her fifth hotdog of the day, and wondered where she put it all away.

"What I'm trying to say is," she continued, in between mouthfuls. "I still don't know what we're doing here, and we should have taken the train."

Squall blinked. What did trains have to do with feeling weird? It was really hard to follow Selphie's train of thought sometimes.

"I did brief you," Squall said after a moment's pause.

"Psh, no one listens to those boring speeches of yours, Squall."

"They aren't speeches. Also, we're here because you blabbed to Odine about seeing Pupu and giving it all the Elixirs we had, because he was as cute as your Carbuncle, and now he's hired us to find and capture it."

"What? No way am I handing Pupu over to that miserable crazy scientist!"

"It's a paid contract..."

"That still doesn't explain why we're out here having a picnic!" Selphie said petulantly, scrunching her face at him.

"We're out here having a picnic," Squall said tiredly, "because I don't particularly want to chase an alien spaceship all over the world and break its spaceship."

Selphie stood up and stared at him.

"...and because I need a break."

"So THIS is why it feels weird! You're RELAXING! Hyne, wait till I tell the others about it..."

Squall muttered a profanity under his breath and rolled away when Selphie tossed the basketful of hotdogs at him.

"You should have picked someone other than me to come."

"...Why?"

"Because I get bored easily."

"..."

"I'm bored."

"I figured."

"Let's kill stuff!"

"...You go ahead."

"OKAY! Monsters, it's killing time."

A few minutes pass. Squall doesn't particularly care.

"No monsters around..."

He shrugs at the sky.

The smell of fire heightens his senses. He lifts his head up to watch Selphie grin madly at his feet.

"Selphie. You just used Firaga on our picnic basket."

"...So?" She tried the Squall look, but it failed on her.

"I can't help it, I'm BORED! And you're not fun, and you don't want to talk."

"...So you set the picnic basket on fire," Squall repeats in disbelief.

"Spar with me."

"No."

"Play Triple Triad with me! I want Irvine's card back, you meanie."

"No."

"Then what do we do?"

"Selphie. I'm trying to take a break from all of the work I have to do in Garden. This is why I don't want to do anything."

"Not even chatting?"

"...No."

"Fine! No monsters around, no flowers to pick, nothing to do, I might as well talk to myself."

"You do that well enough."

She makes a face at him.

"I'll talk to Carbuncle. Carbuncle loves me enough."

Suddenly there is too much silence. Squall ponders her last statement for a brief second, before abruptly sitting up.

"? Wait, are you summoning -"

"Ruby Light!"

A hole appears in the ground. Carbuncle's head pops out, peering at them curiously. It turns around, surveying the area for monsters, before cocking its head to the side.

It appears quite confused. Squall sighs.

"Hi Carbuncle!" Selphie squeals in delight, waving merrily at it.

Carbuncle casts Reflect on her uncertainly.

"Oh, you didn't have to, I just wanted to talk..."

Carbuncle disappears into the hole.

"...Thanks anyway..."

More silence.

"Selphie."

"Hmm?"

"Do NOT summon Tonberry. I know you have it junctioned."

"Aww..."

A hole appears in the ground again.

"SELPHIE! I told you to stop!"

"It's not me!"

"What..?"

Carbuncle appears again, holding something in its mouth.

"What's that you got there, Carbunkie?" Selphie cooed. Squall looked on, half-amused.

It appeared to be a small, weirdly shaped instrument with holes in it. It resembled a stunted flute. Carbuncle disappeared again shortly after.

"Music for your ears, Squall?" she grins and begins to play.

A trail of smoke; something small, furry and white pops up in front of them.

"Kupo?"

"What the -"

"Did you need something, kupo?" it asked Selphie, nodding towards the flute she held. Her eyes were only focused on the red pom-pom on its head.

"You're soooo cute! What are you?"

"Err, I'm a Moogle, kupo. I help you sa - er, I sell things, I have a portable tent, and in return you deliver letters for the Mognet Central, kupo. If there's nothing you need, I'll be going, kupo."

"Oh, but wait!"

Just as quickly as it came, the moogle dashed off.

"This things summons moogles?" Selphie said in wonder, before beginning to play a few notes again.

"Selphie..." Squall groaned.

"I'm sharpening my knife, kupo."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry, Selphie, but I really don't think you should summon Carbuncle again like that," Quistis said, much more forcefully than she intended. Even as she spoke, her eyes scanned the report in front of her steadily, marking off certain points with a pencil.

"But, Quisty, don't you think this is good? I mean, instead of using Carbuncle to fight, it can be a friend! It can be a more intelligent pet."

"... I also really don't think you should refer to GFs as pets," Quistis said nervously, looking up from where she sat on the plush armchair at the corner of Squall's office. Selphie was sitting on Squall's desk, her tiny form barely concealing the commander of Balamb Garden sitting right behind her, focused on the obscene amount of paperwork Cid had decided to dump on him.

"Besides," Rinoa piped up from the other corner of the room, "I wouldn't exactly want to call Diablos a 'pet'." Quistis nodded fervently at this statement.

"You buy G-Potions and stuff from places called PET SHOPS!" Selphie cried indignantly, kicking her legs against Squall's desk, nearly crumpling the neat report clipped together by Xu that was in her hands.

"Shiva says shut up." Squall said boredly, while continuing to read a report. The stack of paperwork was slowly diminishing, thanks to his friends who had promised to help him in return for treating them dinner later. Unfortunately, the only one getting work done was him.

All three girls blinked. Selphie turned around to look at him.

"Did she really?" said Quistis, intrigued.

"No."

"Why would you say that then?" Rinoa scowled. "Just tell us to shut up instead of dragging Shiva into this."

"Shiva doesn't say much. She is annoyed with all of the noise, though."

"Liar. That's your emotion, not hers."

"Fine. Just do the work in silence or leave and let me do it in peace."

Rinoa stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed another report to read.

"Seriously though, I'm going to try summoning Carbuncle again. Not in Garden!" Selphie hastily added, glancing over to Squall. "But, I think it's cute and maybe it can be tamed!"

"Selphie. It comes when you summon it. It casts Reflect to help you. _It gave you a Moogle Flute_," Squall said sharply. "How much more do you want to tame it? Like Angelo? Begging for treats?"

BARK BARK BARK BARK. GRrrrRRR BARK BARK.

"Squall, you did it again," Rinoa said exasperatedly. She went over to her excited dog, now barking after having heard the wonderful word 'treat', and tried to calm him down.

"Sorry," Squall said, and he meant it, if only because he was sorry he was causing more noise.

Turning back to Selphie, he added, "Did you want him to plan the Garden Festival for you?"

"NO!"

"...Did you want him to _perform _in the Garden Festival for you."

"NO. I JUST WANT. A PET GF."

"Selphie," Quistis said placatingly, "Squall just doesn't want you to accidentally anger Carbuncle. You might offend it by trying to tame it. They're not ordinary pets. We call on their power. They feed on our memories."

"And," Squall added, "I don't want you trying this with every other GF you have."

Squall suddenly had an image of Selphie leading Tonberry on a leash around Garden, feeding it hotdogs. He shuddered.

"It liked me enough to give me the Moogle Flute," Selphie said quietly, turning back to her report. "It might want to stick around more. I wasn't gonna... train it or anything. I just want it around."

Squall sighed. Getting up for a stretch and a washroom break, he ruffled Selphie's hair gently.

"Just don't summon Carbuncle unless I'm there, ok?"

Squall left the office without waiting for a reply.

Selphie grinned a bit before going back to the report. It was the second one she had picked up, the first one having been snatched away by Squall seeing as she made no progress whatsoever.

"Selphie," Rinoa said mischieviously, "Try summoning Carbuncle now, Squall's not here."

"Rinoa, what? Selph, don't -"

Unfortunately for Quistis, Selphie's compatibility with the tiny GF was high enough that Carbuncle appeared in an instant, popping out from a hole in the middle of Squall's office. Carbuncle's head swiveled around, once again looking for monsters, before finally catching sight of Selphie sitting on the desk.

It made a noise at her. She squealed.

"See? Isn't it cute?"

"Selphie, it may not want to -"

"Shh, you'll scare it!"

Carbuncle didn't cast Reflect this time. It scrambled up from the hole (which disappeared, along with the report that Selphie had accidentally dropped whilst summoning), and jumped up to the highest thing in the room: a big oak bookcase standing by the window.

"Come on down, Carbunkie!" Selphie coaxed, holding the Moogle Flute out and waving it like a treat.

Carbuncle didn't look like a scared, backed-into-a-corner rat, but instead just stared curiously at Selphie, its bright ruby jewel in the centre of its forehead glimmering slightly.

"It's alright, see? It's me! I'm Selphie, and you know Rinny over there, don't you? You saved her life once, when we fought Matron. You cast a pretty good Reflect there! And that's Quisty over there, she's nice too! She doesn't bite. We all don't! And that's Squally over there..."

She paused. And turned her head slowly to look at Squall, who was standing in the doorway.

Squall scowled.

Selphie eeped.

"Squall - I can explain - " said Selphie, panicked.

"I tried to stop her," added Quistis.

"Yeah, it's not her fault -" Rinoa said simultaneously.

Squall's anger seemed to spike even more as they talked over one another, attempting to explain...

And then they were all distracted when Carbuncle leapt into the air and casted Reflect on Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa.

It stared at Squall for a moment before disappearing into a hole in the ceiling.

A pregnant pause.

"I told you not to summon it if I'm not here... and you said you wouldn't summon it in Garden," Squall said accusingly.

"Rinoa started it! She wanted to see -"

"What are you, twelve? '_She started it_'... Hyne, Selphie. I thought you were better than that."

"Why didn't it cast Reflect on Squall?" Rinoa wondered aloud, in part trying to distract them from her fault, and also genuinely curious. Selphie paused in trying to defend herself and wondered too. Squall facepalmed.

Quistis thought about it, and then started laughing heartily.

"It must've thought Squall was the enemy!"


	3. Chapter 3

When Xu came across the crowd of four people in the doorway of Squall's office, she was not amused. The presence of Quistis, however, made her feel less irked. At least someone was trying for some sort of order.

Still, the sight of one irritated Squall Leonhart, one petulant Rinoa Heartilly, and one pouty Selphie Tilmitt and a ton of paperwork everywhere on Squall's office... it was enough to give any lawful good and conscientious citizen (like herself) a headache.

"Commander, sir," Xu said tersely, announcing her presence to the room.

"Xu," Squall replied, all the while keeping his gaze fixed on Selphie, who was currently looking anywhere but him. She seemed to be looking up at the ceiling; a pretty rude expression in Xu's opinion.

"The President of Esthar and his associates are here for the scheduled meeting."

Squall blinked.

"That's... a little early. I'll go now. Is he in the meeting room?"

"He said he'd be there as soon as he was done playing cards with Brian."

Squall very nearly facepalmed. Trust Laguna to get sidetracked by a running boy... did Brian even know he was playing against the president of Esthar?

"Right," he finally said, and turned to the rest of the girls. They all backed one step away from him. Squall didn't care.

"Well? You promised," he said, nodding his head towards the paperwork.

Silently, though Rinoa was the last to cave in from Squall's firm gaze, they began clearing up the papers that had fallen to the floor as a result of Carbuncle's appearance.

"And lastly, when I get back, I don't want to see any GFs in my office."

The girls continued doing the paperwork in silence, wishing that they had never begged Squall to treat them and the rest of the orphanage gang to dinner in the first place.

Instead of focusing on her current task, however, Selphie was trying to mentally communicate with Carbuncle, who didn't seem at all intent on replying. She sighed in frustration and thought about Bahamut, Cerberus and Diablos. Those were the only three GFs they had who spoke directly to them._ Does Shiva talk? Squall doesn't usually talk about it. Maybe that's why he spends so much time being quiet. He's talking to Shiva. Or maybe it just doesn't happen. I guess some GFs don't talk ... _

"Rinny?"

"Hmm?"

"Does Diablos talk to you?"

Rinoa looked up and giggled at Selphie's perplexed look.

"Well, no, but that's mostly because he's not interested in talking to mortals?"

She paused for a bit after saying that, her eyes glazed over. Alarmed, Selphie hopped over to her, scrutinizing her face carefully. As she was about to shake Rinoa, however, the door opened and Squall walked in, heading directly towards the stack of paperwork.

"I need the report for Balamb Garden's annual mission budget... where'd I put it?"

Selphie perked up when she heard this, although she suddenly had a bad feeling about it.

"That report?" Quistis repeated, looking thoughtful. "I think Selphie had it last."

Everyone in the room (including Rinoa, who had gone back to normal) turned to face Selphie.

"Ah... haha... I don't ... know where it is?"

"..."

"..."

"... I'm serious! I don't know where it is. I was holding it though..."

"I think you dropped it when you summoned Carbuncle," Rinoa said tentatively.

"There's nothing on the floor," Quistis said, immediately getting up to search.

"Great... I'm supposed to go back to Laguna and tell him a GF ate the report."

"...I'm sorry..."

"...Whatever. Laguna will just have to deal - SELPHIE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING -"

For the second time that day, Carbuncle appeared. It scanned the room quickly, before fixing its gaze on Selphie. The ruby on its forehead glowed a bit when it saw her.

"Hey Carbuncle," Selphie said softly, "Did you accidentally take Squall's report to your nest?"

Carbuncle flicked an ear at her in response.

"...Nest?" repeated Squall faintly, before facepalming.

Selphie grabbed a random piece of paper, holding it up to show Carbuncle.

"See? It's something like this. Something you don't usually have..."

Carbuncle's ears lifted up, and then it darted forward to grab the paper from Selphie's grasp. It disappeared into the hole it came from, although the hole didn't vanish with it. Rinoa and Quistis scrambled to make sure no other papers fell into the vortex.

"It better not bring a second Moogle Flute," Squall said, eyeing the hole distastefully.

"I didn't think you would hope for it to come back," Rinoa said, holding Angelo back from going to sniff the vortex.

"You make me sound like I'm the most cynical bastard in the world."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I'm offended," Squall announced.

"No, I don't think you're a bastard," Selphie mused, grinning at him a little. He managed a corner-smile, something Selphie dubbed whenever Squall lifted one corner of his mouth in an attempt to smile.

Carbuncle returned in what could only be seen as triumph, brandishing two pieces of paper in its mouth. It trotted over delicately to Selphie, where she held out her hand. Carbuncle relinquished the papers, backed away a few steps and cocked its head at Squall.

"Thanks!" Selphie cooed, beaming proudly. She checked the papers; indeed, one was the random piece of paper and the other was the report that Squall needed. She handed it over to Squall, who looked vaguely interested in the little GF staring at him.

"Well, good work, Selphie, but I have to get back to the meeting. Laguna might join us for dinner later," Squall added as an afterthought, his brow furrowing at the thought of his father hanging out with his friends.

"Okay, see you later," said Quistis, grinning a bit at the way Carbuncle kept looking at Squall. Shouldn't the GF be gone by now?

"Say bye to Squall, Carbuncle!" said Selphie, giggling.

Squall turned around, most probably to deliver a sarcastic remark, but was shocked into silence by Carbuncle suddenly casting Reflect on him.

"What the..? _Selphie!_"


	4. Chapter 4

All these chapters are just bunnies that I wrote... so they're going to be out of order every once in awhile.

* * *

><p>She hides in her room, shivering, under the blankets. It's a beautiful day outside, but it's far from ordinary.<p>

Carbuncle presses closer to her, the ruby on its forehead twinkling ever so slightly, nudging her knee with its head. She lifts her fingers to briefly pat the GF, but it brings little comfort.

She wishes, not for the last time, that Squall was here with her.

But Squall's outside, dealing with the problems she's caused.

_SeeDs don't have elaborate funerals_, she thinks bitterly, feeling the tears pool up again. _SeeDs cause them. In the event of death..._

_... in the event of death, we mourn. We move on. We fight._

_The only reason this is happening is because of me._

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before Selphie started summoning Carbuncle more often than usual.<p>

Once Carbuncle became more familiar with her, it rarely left. The hole it used to pop out from, fondly referred to as "Carbuncle's nest", never showed up again. Carbuncle was with Selphie night and day, or at least in close proximity. Even the little GF knew that its master needed some privacy.

Squall didn't think of it as a problem. She was the only one who did crazy stuff like that. Carbuncle was one of a kind, and harmless to boot, so really, who would have dreamed that it would be the cause of an international incident?

* * *

><p><em>"We're live here at Balamb Garden, currently located on the outskirts of Trabia Garden. Only a day has passed since SeeD Graz Hanshim was reportedly attacked by his own GF. Hanshim, who passed the SeeD exam two months ago, was mauled to death by a GF known as Fenrir. The whereabouts of this GF are currently unknown. Commander of Balamb Garden, Squall Leonheart, has no comments about this matter. Meanwhile, protestors march on in other countries, calling for SeeDs to put a stop to using GFs. We turn to a couple of protestors for their opinions...<em>

_"Not only does it endanger the lives of innocent bystanders, it causes a great deal of damage to infrastructure as well."_

_"SeeD has served well; we are not against the workings of SeeD. GFs, however, shouldn't be in the hands of mere mortals such as us. I like to think of it as slavery. Eventually, they'll, well, they'll want to be free."_

_"First it was the memory loss thing reported, and now even SeeDs aren't safe from their own GFs? If you can't even stop a GF from attacking you, how can you control it to attack your enemies? I say it's too unpredictable, and unreliable."_

_"What happens if a sorceress gets a hold of a GF? I don't think anyone should be allowed to use them. I think it's for the best if SeeDs stick to their weapons. Sure, weapons can kill just as well as GFs do, but think about it. A SeeD isn't indestructable. A GF ... well, it almost is. A GF and a sorceress? You do the math."_

_Sorceress Rinoa Heartilly refused to comment, disappearing back into Balamb Garden after the funeral. Sources reveal that the sorceress does indeed possess several GFs, including a GF called Diablos, capable of leveling an entire city..._

* * *

><p>"Squall, can't you do something?"<p>

"I'm sorry, Selphie."

"We must be able to! Can you imagine... sending all of those SeeDs out there with no GF enhancements?"

"It's not for me to decide."

"We can't ... no... Carbuncle..."

"I don't want this to happen any more than you do. We can't rely on GFs forever, but..."

"Where will they go?"

"We don't know yet. The council hasn't decided."

"..."

"I spoke to Shiva last night."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I summoned her. And spoke to her. I asked her if she thought of herself as a slave. If she wanted to be free."

"And?"

"She says that as long as she has purpose, she is free."

"...I don't understand."

"I think... I think she meant to say that if I release her, she'll come back to me. One way or another."

He cupped her face with one calloused hand, stroking it gently.

"And.. I think that applies for Carbuncle too."

* * *

><p><em><span>Day FUCKING hell of this pointless war, 3967<span>_

Noran van Gersholz is dead.  
>Flinn Mabres is dead.<p>

I'm littering my journal entries with the names of all who have perished in this endless fight against Sorceress Ultimecia.

The fight is far away now, no longer where it first started. No longer here. Junction Machine Ellone has been destroyed safely. However, that doesn't stop the sorceress from existing.

That doesn't stop this war.

Dr. Odine VIII has tasked me with the job of collecting deaths. Names. All SeeDs like me. The list isn't here, but it might as well be. I've kept this journal for a long time now.

It's a boring task.

I half-wish I was out there, fighting alongside the rest.

At the same time, I'm grateful that I'm stuck here, doing research on new magic. How to end this war. A useful weapon. A miracle...

* * *

><p><span>Day 19th, who the fuck cares, it's 3967<span>

I found something yesterday, looking through archives. I didn't show it to Odine. Not yet.

I'm reading it now.

...

It's a list of documented GFs. Written by Odine?

Dated 1999, so probably his ancestor. That's a long time ago...

GFs?

What are they?

* * *

><p>Slipped into archives by myself. Odine didn't notice.<p>

Took me awhile to find anything useful, and I don't think even Odine himself has been through these...

**April 5th 2001, BALAMB**: _The legislation for the releasing of Guardian Forces has been passed. SeeDs all over the world are to give up their current GFs and to report any sightings of GFs to the EGBU (Esthar-Galbadia-Balamb United) Research Department. Dr Odine, head researcher and in charge of the sealing of all the Guardian Forces, assures us that the sealing technology used is more powerful than the one used to contain Sorceress Adel._

"Ze GFs will come to no harm, and neither will uz humanz."

Dr Odine has been warned by President Laguna Loire of Esthar that the EGBU will conduct frequent checkups on his laboratory, to ensure that no illegal experimentation will occur.

"We have a list of GFs already contained," said Odine. "However, zere has been no documentation of other GFs previously, aside from the ones used in research."

EGBU leaders have warned their nations of the dangers of owning a GF, though President Laguna Loire remains the only leader to have voted against this recently passed legislation.

_List of documented GFs:_

Quezacotl: Contained  
>Shiva: Contained<br>Ifrit: Contained  
>Brothers: Contained<br>Diablos: Contained  
>Bahamut: Contained<br>Carbuncle: Contained  
>Leviathan: Contained<br>Pandemo

**(too faded to read )**

(torn page)

_Day hopeless of endless war. 3967._

... Guardian Forces, huh.

... Maybe this war would be over by now if we had had their power.

* * *

><p>They are strong.<p>

With their GF enhancements, Ultimecia knew they were capable of destroying her. How easily they took care of her minions...

Briefly, she recalls breaking the seals containing the Guardian Forces in that wretched laboratory. Junction Machine Ellone... served its purpose. And through it, she discovered the existence of the GFs. And the knowledge of where they were contained.

She gave them to her minions. Carbuncle to Krysta. Leviathan to Trauma. Eden to Tiamat. But the best...

"The most powerful GF... you shall... suffer!"

She kept for herself.

A/N: Well, that was my "longfic" plot. Decided not to make it a longfic, merely a longer shortfic lolol. I fooled around with this idea thinking that, what makes Squall and his party members so capable of killing Ultimecia, but not the rest of the SeeDs? Sure, Squall may be the best of the best, but generations of SeeDs couldn't have stopped her in the future? And it got me thinking that, well, what if the GFs weren't there in the time of Ultimecia?

Since you can draw GFs you've missed in Ultimecia's castle, I figured I'd add that in too. :)

I hope you've enjoyed reading it xD


	5. Chapter 5

"Squaaaaaaaaaaaaall!"

Squall heard the unmistakeable voice of Selphie's ringing through the hallway. A couple of cadets flattened themselves to the wall to avoid the bursting tornado of energy otherwise known as Selphie Tilmitt, barreling straight for Squall's midriff.

He endured the ensuing collision with much patience, something he had very much for the petite brunette he had come to silently adore.

"Hi," she breathed up at him, catching her breath as she held on to his waist. He didn't say anything, but just looked down at her.

"I passed~! I'm Rank A now, just like you and Quisty!"

He raised an eyebrow in question. While he was sure Selphie made a great SeeD/teammate/engineer (due to her love for explosives and other big things), he could never picture her actually seriously studying for the Rank A exam.

"Congratulations," he offered, gently maneouvring her into a more comfortable and less awkward position. She held on to his arm as they walked in the direction of his office.

"I was thinking of celebrating," she said excitedly, and Squall could already see the gears in her head turning. They rarely had time for parties, so Selphie always jumped at the opportunity to host them. "Maybe going out for dinner with the rest or something."

"Hmm.. I"m not sure if we're all free tonight," said Squall thoughtfully. A break sounds nice, and he'd been neglecting the gang for awhile now. He had learnt that to get some peace and quiet for himself, all he had to do was accomodate them for a night, thus using up their "Squall-friendship-love-attention" quota which lasted for about two or three weeks. Avoiding them all the time was like a negative feedback loop of sorts; they just hung on tighter.

Not that Squall particularly wanted to avoid them all the time; he was just used to relaxing on his own.

Though the last time he relaxed, he thought darkly, was a long, long time ago. He scowled at the mental thought of paperwork. Shiva sent a warning chill through his head. The last time he had complained inwardly to Shiva about all of the paperwork he had to do, she had banned that word from entering his thoughts (actually, she tried to freeze it first).

"Squall?"

"Hmm? Sorry. What did you say?"

She huffed at him, but quickly resumed, by now used to his silences and lack of attention.

"I said, what about a quick ice-cream break in your office?"

"...Why does it have to be _my_office?"

"Because ... because it's our base."

"Base?"

"Yeah! It's where we meet and plan things and have fun and stuff."

"What a coincidence. It's also the place where I work."

"I know, right? Isn't it amazing? You can work _and_ eat ice-cream at the same time. Win-win."

"So much for celebrating. Doing work and being forced to eat ice-cream at the same time."

"No one's forcing you to do work!"

"But someone's forcing me to eat ice-cream."

"Don't you like ice-cream?"

"...Not really, no."

They reached his office and Selphie jumped into a nearby armchair, summoning Carbuncle as she did so. Squall glanced over at the GF lying on Selphie's lap, enjoying a nice ear and neck massage, eyes closed, body languid. Selphie was alternating between rubbing its ears and petting its forehead.

"I don't really know what to say," Selphie finally said.

"About what?"

"About the fact that you don't like ice-cream."

Squall stifled a smile as he continued doing his work. Not liking ice-cream apparently stumped Selphie.

"You wouldn't if you continuously had it shoved in your face everytime ice-cream was given to you."

"Let me guess: Seifer."

"Right. Although, I'm sure you did it at one point too."

"Did not! I would never do that."

"Sure, Selphie."

"So you won't eat my celebratory ice-cream?" she said accusingly.

"Probably not," he agreed. When his answer was met with silence, he looked up to see Selphie pouting at Carbuncle, who cocked its head innocently at her.

"I'll still be happy for you," he pointed out, "After all, you are holding the party in my office."

"It's not as if we're gonna shove it into your face or anything."

"I don't like the taste of it. Too sweet."

"Fine. I'll feed your share to Carbuncle." The little GF perked up at the sound of its name.

"Dear Hyne, Selphie. Must you always do this?"

"Do what?"

"Anytime I don't do anything you want me to do, you replace me with Carbuncle. _Squall won't talk to me, fine, I'll talk to Carbuncle. Squall won't dance with me, fine, I'll dance with Carbuncle."_

"Squall won't kiss me, fine, I'll kiss Carbuncle," she sang out happily, and then gave a quick peck on Carbuncle's forehead. The GF was alternating back and forth between Squall and Selphie everytime its name was mentioned. It shied away from the light kiss, but remained where it was.

"I never said I wouldn't kiss you," Squall grumbled softly.

"I'm gonna go tell the others and grab the ice-cream, okay? Stay here, Binkie," Selphie cooed, standing up and placing the GF right on top of Squall's dreaded paperwork before leaving. Squall cringed. He disliked that nickname. Although, it was definitely better than "Carby" or "Buncle".

Squall kept his eye on the GF, glancing up every once in a while. Carbuncle lounged on his desk, occasionally nosing at various things littered about the desk.

After about half an hour, his door burst open unceremoniously, prompting him to sigh and push aside his work. Selphie dumped the two heavy bags she was carrying onto the coffee table.

"...Selphie. There are five tubs of ice-cream," Squall said in disbelief, walking over to her.

"Yup! One for each of us! And a tiny little popsicle for you because you're silly."

"I already said I didn't want any. And I'm not letting you feed Carbuncle any of it," Squall added hastily, grabbing Carbuncle and gently pulling it away from the stack of ice-cream tubs.

"Binkie'll be fine," she reassured him. "It's not like GFs die or anything."

"They do take damage, you know. You just passed the Rank A exam, of course you know that. And you also know that Poison is a type of damage."

She whacked him on the arm and continued to dig in the back. Finally she procured a popsicle and began unwrapping it.

"Here, this is for you."

"Selphie..."

"Try it."

He sighed, letting Carbuncle leap from his arms to Selphie's lap, accepting the popsicle. It was coloured light blue, and all in all, looked quite unappetizing.

"You'll like it, I promise!"

He gave a tentative lick, bracing himself for the sweetness that was bound to come... and then looked at Selphie in surprise.

"It's... salty," he said carefully.

"Sea-salt ice-cream," she said triumphantly. "I knew you'd like it!"

"It's not bad," Squall said finally.

"Great! Next time, we'll promote you to tubs," she said happily, opening a strawberry ice-cream tub. Grabbing a spoon, she scooped up a generous amount and proceeded to eat it.

Squall sat beside her silently, finishing off the rest of the sea-salt ice-cream.

Squall never really liked ice-cream, but this particular flavour wasn't too bad.

"Thanks, Selphie."

"Mmm? For what?"

He smiled at her, but did not reply.


End file.
